More pieces of the health puzzle have come to light...still more needed.
While hunting down a fly one morning, I swatted spastically in the air trying to get the bugger when I noticed something equally annoying at the air vent above. MOLD was growing around the ceiling & the vent. I ran to other vents, only to find the same thing. But I didn't have time to really give it much thought...or finish off the fly either.
Luckily that day I had my doctor's appointment. During the appointment, we were talking about my last round of test results, which a nurse had already called me to tell me everything came back normal on the hormone tests. But apprarently everything wasn't normal...the doctor reported that my estrogen levels were VERY low & explained that could easily be contributing to the fatigue, depression, weight and sleep problems. I later read it would also contribute to my digestion & back problems as well. I thought, aha! I have found the final link...but why is my estrogen low? I'm only 37, and while I know "the change" can start at my age, I'm not having any unnormal female changes along those lines. Oh goodie, something new to research.
I also mentioned that my sinuses had been bothering me & as those words came out of my mouth, I remembered the mold, so I brought up it. She stopped and said, well that could be the very thing behind all of your CFS symptoms...depending on what kind of mold & how widespread it is. Perhaps IT is the final link?
So now we're testing for mold & yeasts. I've gotten the mold problem at home *hopefully* tended to (and according to the mold people, the issue was isolated just around the vents & not throughout the entire system, luckily). I've not noticed any difference in that respect since.
The only difference I've noticed with the estrogen replacement is that my digestion has calmed down--I'm not AS sensitive to everything anymore. Trouble is, about a week prior to beginning the estrogen supplments, I started smoking again & since I have had more energy...go figure. I know, I know...not the smartest, healthiest or best move after 6 months quit, but I tell you what, I do feel better than I have in six months since quitting & it's not from the estrogen. I don't feel great or even all that good, but I don't feel as run down as I have been. Obviously whatever's making me feel badly was there all along under the smoking, but I don't think it was because of the smoking & I guess the smoking masked how bad it was up until I quit.
So now I'm waiting on new test results...for the molds/yeasts, thyroid, adrenal, killer cells, and it seems something else. Apparently the adrenal glands, when chronically taxed, can max out the estrogen levels. So we'll see what the test says re: my adrenal glands, but I have a feeling they could be the masterminds behind all my ill feelings. I know I say that about everything every time something new seems to be the answer, but from everything I read, those damn adrenals can really make or break you. And since I seem to allow myself to live in constant states of emotional stress (and really what I've come to understand as dis-stress) by being in relationships that are never quite working or jobs that I can't find ways to be content with or feeling financially strained no matter how much I make or spend, and not feeling comfortable, settled, or grounded since moving to Houston. Seems I don't know how to get my needs met, no matter what portion of my life I'm focused on, and this causes me a great deal of chronic disstress.
This last bit is a BIG part of this process for me because it could be very situational, but I think it would be this way no matter what the situation, relationship, job, etc is...this I need more time to wrap my head around & perhaps will blog on it specifically later.
Blood testing is easier to understand just now.
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